The 1980âÂÂ81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 28, 1980, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 30, 1981, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Indiana Hoosiers won their fourth NCAA national championship with a 63âÂÂ50 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Rule Changes
- On free throw attempts, players can now enter the free-throw lane after the foul shooter releases the ball. Previously, players had to wait until the ball touched either the rim or backboard before entering the lane.
- The time allotted to replace a disqualified (fouled out) player was reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
- Conferences were allowed to experiment with the three-point shot in conference games only. The Southern Conference was the first to use the shot in their conference games, adopting a distance of 22 feet.
Season headlines
- At 7:06 p.m. on November 29, 1980, Ronnie Carr of Western Carolina scored a field goal against Middle Tennessee State. Not counting shots made during a February 1945 game between Columbia and Fordham that experimented with the three-point field goal, Carr became the first player to score on a three-point shot. The three-pointer was used as an experiment by several conferences until the rule was adopted nationally for the 1986-87 season.
- After a nearly even first half, the Indiana Hoosiers pulled away from the North Carolina Tar Heels to clinch the school's fourth national championship, 63âÂÂ50, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The win marked Hoosiers had coach Bob Knight's second championship and marked North Carolina head coach Dean Smith's sixth trip to the Final Four without a championship. A dominant second half by sophomore Isiah Thomas led Indiana to the championship.
- The possibility of postponing or cancelling the March 30 NCAA championship game arose after an assassination attempt in which John Hinckley Jr., shot President Ronald Reagan that day in Washington, D.C. Once it was confirmed that Reagan would survive, the game was played as scheduled.
- The NCAA used the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a computer ranking system, for the first time as an aid in evaluating teams for at-large selections and seeding in the NCAA tournament.
- Two No. 1 seeds (LSU and Virginia) advanced to the NCAA tournament Final Four for the first time.
- The NCAA tournament included a national third-place game â pitting the two teams that lost in the semifinals against one another â for the last time. The NCAA tournament had included a national third-place game since 1946.
- For the last time, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) included a third-place game between the two teams that lost in the semifinals. The tournament had included a third-place game since the first NIT in 1938.
- The NCAA Final Four was held in Philadelphia and the Final Four logo included a depiction of the Liberty Bell. It was the first time that a Final Four logo incorporated an image specific to the Final Four venue.
- Oregon State senior Steve Johnson set an NCAA record for season field goal percentage with a .746 mark. Johnson graduated with the NCAA career field goal percentage record (.678)
- Nolan Richardson led Tulsa to a 15-game improvement over the previous year in his first year at the helm. The Golden Hurricane went 26âÂÂ7 and won the 1981 National Invitation Tournament. Richardson came to Tulsa fresh off of a 1980 NJCAA Championship and brought four of his former Western Texas College starters to Tulsa, including Paul Pressey.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP and UPI polls during the pre-season.
Conference membership changes
Regular season
Conferences
Conference winners and tournaments
Note: From 1975 to 1981, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1981 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did. The ECAC North was a separate, conventional conference.
Conference standings
Division I independents
A total of 46 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, DePaul (27âÂÂ2) had both the best winning percentage (.931) and the most wins.
Informal championships
All five teams finished with a 2âÂÂ2 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.
Statistical leaders
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Indiana won its fourth NCAA title with a 63âÂÂ50 win over North Carolina and coach Dean Smith. Precocious sophomore Isiah Thomas was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player in a title game delayed due to the shooting of President Ronald Reagan.
Final Four
Played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia
National Invitation tournament
Coach Nolan Richardson led Tulsa to the NIT Championship in his first year as a Division I head coach â an 86âÂÂ84 win over Syracuse. The Golden Hurricane's Greg Stewart was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
NIT Semifinals and Finals
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
<br>
Major player of the year awards
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
References